An Eternal Wait
by Treemeadow
Summary: Severus Snape is revived following the Battle of Hogwarts- and this does not please him. Years later, he is enlisted to assist in the quelling of a new threat. When a youngster is thrown into his life, he becomes involved in ways he never expected. DSCNTD
1. Prologue

Ever since Snape/Lily became canon, its developed into an almost OTP for me. Well, I'm still highly Snape/Hermione, but thats fanon.

Canon wise, its Snape/MINE MINE MINE, I mean Lily... all the way.

None the less, this project is an opportunity for me to tie up all the things that HURT ME SO in DH, including.

Um. Including Snape's death.

If you can forgive this one teensy tiny little detail, then you may enjoy this fic.

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Prologue: Snape's Untimely Rescue.

It was the event Severus Snape had spent the better part of seventeen years waiting for- hoping for. He felt unusually light, and unburdened. It had been decades since this feeling had encompassed him, and for the first time in his life ( if this could be called life, now) he was purely at peace.  
He gazed at the room-was it even a room?- it was painted purely white, in fact, Snape thought to himself, probably not white-paint at all, but pure light. This served only to broaden the smile on his face.

You see, Severus Snape was dead. The very concept thrilled him. "Finally" He thought to himself, not certain if it was an appropriate thing to say outloud at the end of one's life.

"Finally"

But it was truly how he felt. For as much as his effort in the War against Voldemort was greatly needed, Snape had felt as though he had merely been wasting his time, when his true desire was to be with Lily.

It was this thought that stirred him. His heart burst with exitement- for if there had been moments where he felt Lily's closeness, this was the most vivid of all.

A small movement of colour in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and his head snapped around quickly to catch sight of it.  
Snape's eyes widened in disbelief, as the figure began running towards him.

"Surely..." But his words were cut short into a "gurumph" sound, as he was quickly enveloped into the warmest and most welcome embrace he had ever recieved.

"Severus!"

It took him a moment to comprehend the situation. He had to take a step back, to see if it was really true. If it was really her. He looked straight into her eyes. Yes. Certainly her eyes, and for the first time in years, it was set upon the frame of her face. Not Harry Potter's. He could not refrain any longer, and with rivuluets of tears streaming down his face, he took her back into his arms.

"Lily..."

They stood that way for the longest of times,for Snape, an eternity of bliss, where both were trying to forget all past ills and mistrusts.

Relcutantly pulling away, placing his hands upon her slender shoulders, Snape was the first to try and make amends.

"Lily- I'm so sorry for everything. When you- when I'd heard you..."

Lily cut him off with laughter, which reminded him of the comfort when a favourite childhood song, so long forgotten, was suddenly brought back to memory.

"sev, there is no need for this now" She said, a gentle smile gracing her features.  
"You've done everything you could have. We've been hearing about it, in the afterlife. Thankyou so much for taking care of Harry. James and I are so grateful."

At the mention of his name, a frown crept into the corner's of Snape's brow. Lily sighed in acknowledgement.

"I know you had, and always will have feelings for me, Sev, but my heart belongs to James. You know this, you knew this"

The familiar pain stung Snape's chest. sadly, he clutched at it. Lily took his hand.

"But things are different in the afterlife. There are no grudges, there is no pain"

"Then why do I feel it now?"

"You...hurt?"

As she said these words, the lights around them began to fade, Lily cast a worried look at the direction from which she entered.

"Can you see a way?"

"What way?" Snape could see only the light, which was fading fast

"The way...on"

Snape searched the vast room of light.

"No"

Lily lowered her eyes, and pulled away. 'Severus, we will be together again, but if you can't see a way to move onward, then something has occured to stop you at this time."She said sadly.

"Am I becoming a ghost?"

"I don't different for everyone. I have to go...We'll meet again, I promise. This has been wonderful,but I know you'll understand when I say "I hope its not too soon" , So, Sev, until then-" And letting go of his hand, she slowly began to drift away, along with the light which, with each thudding heartbeat-which Snape knew was his own, began to ebb further and further away from him.

"No...Lily" He called out, desperately reaching out into the fading surroundings. "Please...PLEASE!"

Darkness enveloped him, and he sat in it, completely unfeeling, completely disassociated. Moments later, the sound of voices murmuring began to grow.

"It worked, good one, Finkus"

"He should thank himself,Greer, he was the one who taught us. Put a stopper in death, and it did!"

"Shh, Fink', I think he's waking up...I heard him groan"

He opened his eyes, and felt nothing but searing pain in his neck and a heavy wave of utter despairing had felt so real, so tangibly, beautifully- painfully real.  
He tentatively drew his hand to his neck, a sudden wave of memories pouring into him. He had been with Voldemort, and Harry was there- something happened. It all seemed so far away now. He tried to recall what it was.

"n...Nagin...i" He croaked, catching the eye of the man sitting beside him, open vial in hand.

"She's dead. Heads lopped right off by a student..."

"P-poison...?"

"She was milked, used her venom up on other victims."

Snape closed his eyes in frustration.

"I'm not dead"

The fellow named Finkus spoke up "I should think not, saved your life, we did." He claimed, rather proudly.

"Why did you do it?!" Snape demanded, barely any strength in his voice.

"Someone told us you was in here...Potter"

"Why did you bring me back to this hell hole?"

"Not now that You-Know-Who has gone" Stated Greer, with a golden smile etched clear across his face.

Snape grunted.

"I was ready to go. I wanted to go." He grabbed the sleeve of the nearest bloke-Greer- and begged of him "Kill me, please! Let me go back."

The men shifted uncomfortably and cast awkward glances at each other, they made no response.

Snape closed his eyes, and allowed one solitary tear to flow out, in mourning.

For he was not dead, afterall. 


	2. Chapter 1: Return to Spinner's End

Chapter One:

Return to Spinner's End

Night enveloped a figure shrouded in a dark cloak, which billowed out behind it as it paced its way along the road called Spinner.

At the end of the street, sat a shabby looking building, which with years of neglect stood as nothing more than a mere shadow of its existence,  
which, for the man standing at the gate, was not a very fond one.

With a deep sigh, Snape proceeded through, knowing that there were still some things he needed to resolve with himself.

Just over one and a half years had passed since the fall of Voldemort (and Snape's near-death experience). Yet, even in the glorious afterglow of such a joyous victory, peace did not remain for long. A new threat was at hand, only this time, not at the bidding of one soul, but at the cleverly orchestrated movements of an un-named group of people- or Party, rather, for it was a strange group with a dangerous political agenda.

Snape had never believed that all should be ruled by one, but he was certainly not so "left" as to believe that no-one should be ruled by anyone.

For that was the ideal of this un-named group of people. Anarchy, and not just fighting against the constraints of a totalitarian rule, no-  
it was anarchy against organisation in total.

No-one knew much about this group, or where they'd come from, since they had never assigned themselves a name, and no records were kept.  
It was assumed that information simply passed its way on from one member to another. No one knew who they were, and they certainly did not send their children to Hogwarts- or, at least if they did, the children must have been brilliant at keeping secrets, or perhaps, which Snape highly doubted- occlumens. This, Snape hi

Perhaps the influence of the unnamed party would not have been so dangerous, if it weren't for the fact that, in the recent months, there had been a dramatic increase in the amount of dark activity associated with those believed to be of the movement. So far, only one person had been apprehended, and he was too old and senile to make sense. The only piece of related information they could ciphen from him had been a catch-cry of some sort "Total anarchy, total freedom, total peace!

Nonetheless, people were becoming more concerned. Some even disillusioned. Old men would be heard in the pubs "We just got rid of one evil, then another pops up."

Of course, all efforts were being taken by the ministry to nip this particular problem in the bud, but with all its red-tape and martial procedures, there was only so far they could go.

Thus, the Order of the Phoenix- or at least what was left of them, re-formed, lead by none other than the legendary Harry James Potter, himself.

Snape had not wanted to be involved. Following the events at the Shrieking Shack, he had chosen to cut himself off from all old ties, even refusing to meet with Potter, to whose life he owed.

Perhaps, in fact, that was the reason for his avoidance.

He had spent the greater part of the last years wandering the vast Earth, living on his wits, and, most of the time, hardly living at all.  
He moved through life as merely a shadow of the man he used to be. He was broken, more so than he had ever been before.

But when Potter finally managed to get a hold of him, he felt as though he could not refuse. He knew that he owed Harry his life- probably willingly give it, if it was within his power to do so.

For that had been the one fall-back of the cadavernix potion- that which has been used on Snape to prevent his onward journey.  
It really did put a stopper in death. Not immortality by any means (and thank goodness for that) but in deaths caused by natural occurences, or deaths caused by oneself, for a period of two years- longer if the potion was stronger. The potion had been invented as a means to prevent death-row prisoners from painlessly doing the job themselves (this had been in the days before the alliance with dementors).

It was also occasionally awarded to the highest order Wizards, but equal opportunity rights introduced by newly appointed Minister for the Control of Magical Creatures- or as it had been renamed- "Concerns of Magical Creatures' had argued that by allowing only certain people access to such a strong, and life altering, potion, it encouraged segregation and elitism, which with the immediacy of the Voldemort Saga, was not a welcome association.

As such, the potion was currently used only as a preventative last resort in suicidal cases, or in dire emergencies where the only other option really was death.

And it was a brush with death that brought Snape to his childhood residence this cool January night, where he had hoped to retreive some hidden belongings. Very precious belongings- for they were the only reminders left of his Lily.  
Not much, really, and certainly of no monetary value, but intense sentimentality.

With a sadened sigh, Snape made his way passed the dilapidated cast iron gate, and to the door, upon which a giant "condemned" poster sat, its corners tattered with rot.

Inside, the putrid scent of mould filled his nostrils, but it was nothing unfamiliar to him, least of all at Spinner's End. He sickybeaked around,  
evaluating what was left, and what had been pilferred away over time by the squatters who so often occupied the house. Not that there would ever be any of those again, thought Snape. It was not the sort of place any self-respecting homeless person would wish to occupy.

Snape continued his way through the old house, stopping every so often to quickly gaze at the odd damp-stained photograph- all muggle, of course.  
His childhood had been a struggle between his parents on many matters- the majority of which had been magic.

Snape kicked aside an old lampshade, as he reached the room that had once been his. A small comfort in a difficult childhood.

He stepped inside, no sign on his face to represent how he was feeling inside. He remained cool and unaffected, despite the fact his heart was beating quite rapidly in his chest, and a small lurch of exitement which he felt in his stomach.  
He was anticipating seeing her letters once again, and the other fewLily mementos. He would be happy, and also bitterly sad at the same time.  
Nothing he wasn't used to,though,he had lived that way for most of his life, especially the passed nineteen years. This thought momentarily took him by surprise- had it really been nearly two decades since that night in Godric Hollow? He knew that all the events of that night (and the following seventeen years) were going to quickly become lost to history, mere facts on Chocolate Frog cards. He involuntarily scowled. Perish the thought!

Underneath what would have been his bed- had it not been stolen- lay bare floorboards, beneath which his treasured possession wouldld hopefully still lay.  
A plain tin box-probably once containing tea-bisucuits, latched closed which a rather lovely lock.  
The lock had been given to Snape by Lily for his Twelfth birthday, along with a diary which he had filled with notes, ideas, potions and spells. All things he considered of uptmost importance at the time.

He pulled the first floor board off, and was not at all surprised when it broke apart in his hand, eaten through by the damp. He was taken by surprise when the only thing occupying the space was a little rat, which scurried away in fright. His surprise quickly turned to anger,  
which almost as quickly turned to violent rage. He turned his wand on any object still left it the room, smashing them to fragments.  
He pivoted on his foot, and stalked out the door, hot tears of frustration pouring down his face. He began destroying anything he could find.  
No memories left. After this, he didn't care what happened. The sooner the end of the two years came, the sooner he could turn the wand on himself.  
Making his way to the old kitchen, where he hoped to demolish many old photos, he used his wand to bring a cabinet crushing down- he was shocked,  
however, to hear the cabinet give a rather loud yell.

He stalked over and pulled the door off, which was barely hanging by a hinge, anyway. Inside, somewhat bruised, but perfeclty fine, sat what appeared to be a young adolescent boy- probably no more than twelve or thirteen,Snape thought to himself. He was dressed in a hugely oversized brown robe, held up around the wasit with a tattered piece of rope. He climbed out, wand at the ready, but held somewhat awkwardly.

"turn that thing on me, and you'll wish you were never born!" He said, his confidence strong, and voice mature for his age, though still high.

Snape aimed his wand directly between the eyes of the boy, even draiwng so close as to have it touching the lad's skin.

"You couldn't harm me if you tried, boy."

The young fellow went pink around the ears, but stood his ground.

"What are you doing here, wrecking everything?" He asked of Snape.

"That is no business of yours, and I can very well ask YOU the same. Why are you here?"

"I want to. I have the right."

"This is not your home."

"Its no ones home."

Snape couldn't help but agree somewhat with that statement. He quickly realised, however, that the boy was not much of a threat. In one fluid movement,  
he put his wand away, and snatched the boys wand from away from him.

"Give it back!" He screamed, lurching towards Snape. Snape stepped back, and the boy crashed unceremonially to the floor.

"You'll get it back when you tell me why you are here."

"I thought that much would be obvious." He said, indicating a small pile of goods, among which, Snape was disappointed to note, his box was not.

"Thief! I should turn you into the authorities. why aren't you at Hogwarts?"

The boy smirked.

"I don't go to school."

Snape realised that this boy was most likely homeless. Yes, he thought, judging from the old oversized robe. His dirty blond hair was rather grimy,  
and his face was smeared with dirt. Yet it did not appear to have been there that long- almost as though it had been slopped on, haphhazardly,  
as some sort of fashion statement. Snape grabbed him by the shoulder, and dragged him along to the stair banister, spell-binding him to it.

"You can't do this!" The boy was kicking out at Snape, and landed a rather nice kick to the gut, which did not impress Snape much at all.

"Insolent brat- you are the one in the wrong, here"

"Its abandoned! Only old Snape owns it, and he never comes here!"

Snape raised his wand directly to the boy's temple, which was returned in the form of another kick to the gut.

"Stop it! How do you know Snape never comes here?" Referring to himself in the third person "Are you squatting here?"

"None of your business!"

Snape realised that this was not the first time the boy had been here, and this sparked a slight hope within him.

"So you have been here before?" He said, only lowering his wand slightly "Did you take the box?"

The boy grinned maliciously.

"So its valuable?"

"Not to you" Snape once again pressed the wand to the lad's temple- who, considering his assumed age, was handling the whole situation with an exemplary- or perhaps foolish, display of calm

The boy's breathing became more regular when he saw that Snape was not intending to cause actual harm to him.

"What'll you give me, to tell you where it is?"

Snape bound the boy more tightly, causing him to wince in pain.

"How does freedom sound?"

The boy shook his head.

"No. I'm fine with imprisonment, thanks. I want something more tangible."

Snape reached into his pocket and pulled out a galleon, which the boy regarded with a sneer.

"One galleon? Come on, even I know that inflation has sent values plummeting, and I don't eve-" The boy cut himself off rather oddly, and his expression was rather strangled.

Snape was well versed in reading the actions of people, and tried legilimency, which surprisingly, did not work.

"What are you hiding?"

"None of your business!"

Snape's face became contorted with rage.

"I am the owner of this dilapidated piece of rubbish, and I demand you tell me who you are, and what the hell you are doing here!"

The boys eyes widened, and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper.

"You're Snape?"

"Ye-what the hell?"

A loud explosion disrupted him, and he barely had a moment to undo the boy's bind and push him out of the way of the collapsed wall beside him. The lad seized the opportunity to re-claim his wand.  
At that moment, a group of men dressed in plain robes stepped into the room,only one with a wand, which was aimed at the boy.  
"There's the traitor- grab the defector!" They lunged towards him, and he immediately raised his wand, shooting a blocking spell at them.  
Snape recognised them immediately by their lack of wands- or rather, the sole communal wand they were the unamed party.

"Tad- you are beytraying us in the highest form!" The oldest one- who must have been the leader of some sort, yelled at the boy.

"I don't believe in it anymore, Rolf! Its bad, its WRONG" The boy was standing somewhere behind Snape at this point, his wand shaking.  
Obviously he was not accustomed to using them.  
Snape did not waste a moment, now that he realised the boy's connection to the party. He reached into a robe pocket and pulled out a small case, which to anyone else would look like a compact mirror. He tapped it with his wand and opened it.

"Red fairies, misty nest!" He shouted into it, using the codes for the unamed party and Spinner's End, which would tell everyone who had just recieved the message on their own mirrors to immediately set out, prepared to battle.

However, realising that they could likely get caught, with only one wand between them, the group left, and supposedly apparated, because when everyone arrived, there was no trace of them. Hermione returned from a thorough search.

"Not a sign of them, just like last time"  
She looked over at the boy, who was hovering very closely to Snape.  
"Who are you?" She asked.

Snape grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him foward "He has something to do with them. I think he's a spy"  
He shook his head fiercly.  
"No. I'm not- I want to stop them, but ever since I left, they've been trying to find me." He turned to Snape "I've been trying to find 're high on their hit list. You too, Mr Potter." He said, turning to face the man with the famous face.

Harry shrugged and chuckled sadly. Hermione gave him a sad, understanding smile.

"So what else is new, eh, Snape"  
Snape did not not respond to Harry, instead pushing the boy down onto the step.

"What's your name"  
"Tad Peters"  
"How old are you"  
The boy hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking about it.  
"Um, fourteen"

It looked suspicious, but Snape accepted it.

"We'll need to take him back to HQ. We can get everything out of him there." Snape said, forcing the boy named Tad to his feet roughly under the elbow. Hermione winced slightly "Please, professor, he's only young."

Both the boy and Snape looked slightly annoyed. The boy? who knew why. But Snape did not like being called a professor had failed at that position and indeed, all those that had ever been given him. He did not wish to be adressed at all, really.

Harry shot Snape a tentative smile, which was highly disconcerting to the ex-professor. He had never, in his wildest imagination, ever believed that Harry would ever attempt civility.

They kept a close eye on the boy and made one more perimeter scan, and after they were certain that no trace of the unamed party was left behind, they set out for the Order HQ, Snape with a hand firmly grapsed around Tad's upper shoulder. 


	3. Chapter 2: The Kitchen at Winchcombe

Chapter Two

The House at Winchcombe.

The House at Winchcombe was a simple little place, located halfway down Winchcombe Avenue.

It had previously been occupied by an elderly spinster, who had decided randomly one day to become a troll-tamer in Finland, and immediately upon being put on the market, it was bought.

It was the perfect base for the newly re-instated Order of the Phoenix,as it was much larger inside than outside, leaving PLENTY of space for all the goings on within.

Currently, the building was abuzz with activity. After weeks of sitting on nothing but old links and sources, the recent incident at Spinner's End had built up a feeling of exitement- anticipation. Order members crowded around the old kitchen table, anxiously awaiting the arrival of those members who had been despatched to investigate the call from Snape. Mrs Weasley was serving tea and buscuits when, finally, a triumphant looking Hermione apparatedinto the crowded room with a loud "pop".

"There you are!" Cried Ron, running over to plant a warm kiss on his girlfriend's cheek "How'd it go then? where's Harry?"

Hermione cast everyone an excited glance as she sat down on the bench, gladly accepting a cup of tea from Mrs Weasley.

"He's coming by floo" She said, "We've apprehended a potential movement member, but he didn't want to side-along apparate."

The eyes of everyone in the room widened.

"So he's underage, then?" Ginny asked.

"I think he said he's fourteen." Replied Hermione, stirring sugar into her tea.

Just then, the sound of soot erupting from a fireplace, accompanied by the coughing and spluttering of a first-time floo-traveller, re-directed everyone's attention to the doorway of the kitchen, where presently stood Severus Snape and Harry Potter, each holding one arm of a disgruntled looking person between them.

"I'm coming willingly! You don't need to man-handle me!" The lad said, struggling to shirk of the restraints. Harry immediately let go, but Snape only tightened his already firm grip.

"You let that child go, immediately, Severus!" Cried the shrill voice of Mrs Weasley. She paced over to where the lad stood and took his newly freed arm in hers. "He's on our turf now, he can't escape. I don't care if he's good or not, we will not treat anyone this young with anything short of warmth."

Snape rolled his eyes and sat down at the farthest end of the table, while Harry found a spot between Ginny and boy stood to the side, glancing around every so often. Mrs Weasley handed him a plate with some sliced bread and jam. He looked very surprised, but did not take it. Mrs Weasley sat it on the bench beside him.

"Yours when you're ready dear, you look famished"

Everyone sipped their tea in silence for a few moments, Snape staring at the young fellow, who in turn was gazing down at the bread and jam with hungry eyes. After a few agonizing moments, Harry spoke up.

"You can eat, mate- you're not in trouble."

The boy shrugged. "I know...but." He looked down at it.

"What?" Implored Hermione.

"I-"

"He thinks its poisoned." Snape said, cutting him off mid speech. The boy looked absolutely horrified. Snape had, quite obviously, used legilimency against him. He smirked smugly as Mrs Weasley shot the boy a long-suffering look.

"Don't worry dear, Ron'll eat that one, I'll make you another while you watch." She stood to move the plate, but was cut off by the boy.

"Oh no- I didn't, I mean. Its alright, I was just nervous. Don't go to any trouble on my account."

Mrs Weasley smiled warmly at him. She summoned two chairs over to where she and the boy stood, offering one to him, and taking the other herself.  
Everyone finnished their tea in silence, while the boy ate his jam, slowly with the first bites, but then with relish.

At the far end of the table, Snape sat stirring his tea, staring at the boy. He had been mulling over a theory that he was almost certain of voiced his question.

"You know occlumency, boy!" He spat.

Everyone at the table shifted uncomfortably, the boy looked utterly confused. Mrs Weasley looked fed up.

"Please, Severus. This is a kitchen! Not an interrogation room. I will not have you treating any underaged wizard with that tone in MY kitchen!"

"Your kitchen, is it?" Said Snape, a dangerous smile curling on his lip.

"You know very well what I mean by that statement!"

"Do I?"

The room went very silent, and very tense. They were distracted a moment later by the sound of crying piercing through the roof.

Ginny stood quickly to her feet, a look of pure relief on her face as she scraped her chair out from behind her and rushed from the room.

"Well,looks like Teddy has woken up! Better go see him!"

Harry smiled wistfully at her as she left the room. Hermione cleared her throat audibly, re-directing the attention to herself.

"Well, better get down to business, hadn't we?"

Everyone voiced their agreement. Snape huffed. Mrs Weasely shot him a withering look as she cleared the crumbs from the boys plate with a swish of her wand,  
and replaced it with a small slice of cherry-chocolate cake.

Hermione spoke.

"We found him at Spinner's End" She said, not needing to say who.

"The sneaky little thief was squat-"Snape began.

"Professor Snape, please!" Hermione begged, quite fed up as well. She turned her attention to the boy who was now halfway through his slice of cake,  
and looking thoroughly pleased with it.

"First of all, can I ask who you are?"

He lowered his fork, glancing around cautiously at the rest of the people seated at the table, his eyes resting lastly on Snape.

"He didn't tell you?"

They all looked to Snape.

"I was under the assumption the interrogation had not yet begun" He said, casting a daring glance over to where Mrs Weasley was visibly boiling.

"Enough!" Hermione said, dispelling any more banter. She turned back to the boy.

"You're name and age."

The boy sighed, sat up staight and pushed away the now empty plate.

"Tad Pete-"

"Is that your full name?"

"Er, yes." He said, unconvincingly.

"You're not lying?"

"No."

Snape stood up.

"I'll get the veritaserum." He said, making his way from the room.

At this, Molly Weasley pulled out her wand and cast a barricade charm on the door, preventing Snape's exit.

"You'll do no such thing!" She claimed, shaking her wand warningly.  
"Under no circumstances will an underage wizard be subjected to veritaserum in my presence."

Snape was about to make some snide remark when he was cut off by the shouting of Ginny from upstairs.

"Mum! Teddy's spit-up again! What do I do?"

Mrs Weasley sighed, and indicated Tad to stand up.

"May as well get you a warm bath running, while I'm up there. Come on!"

Snape stood to the side of the doorway.

"We will continue this."

Tad only looked back with a smirk on his face as Mrs Weasley led him up the stairs. Snape resumed his seat.

"Soo...why exactly did you bring him here?" Asked Ron, looking at the boy's recently vacated seat.

"There were movement members there-they seemed to recognise him-"

"Recognise him?" Spat Snape, clearly annoyed. "They knew exactly who he was!"

"I was going to say" COntinued Hermione "That they appeared to recognise him as someone who had betrayed them."

'So he's for us?" George asked.

"Not exactly." Replied Harry "He's possibly against them, but he may not be for us. Its all up in the air"  
Just then, the sound of heavy retching alerted everyone's attention to the stairway. They piled into the hall, at the top of the staircase stood Mrs Weasley, holding a freshly conjured towel to the forehead of Tad, who looked rather sheepish. Ginny had her wand out, practicing scourgify over the mess that covered the top two steps.

"Poor thing" Mrs Weasley said to Tad. "Too much too soon, hmm? We'll get you into the bath and into bed. No more questions till after you've had a rest."

The boy looked highly concerned as she went to guide him to a stand, he shirked her arm away from around his torso and dizzily reached for the wall for balance.

"I...I can manage, I'm sure. Thankyou, though" he had gone deeply red and nodded his thanks to Ginny as he moved to the open door of the bathroom next to him.

Molly Weasley stared after him with a curious expression, before turning to the rest and shooing them back into the kitchen with a mere glance.

A/N

Its boring now, but I tell you what! Chapter after next...whew!

I'm basically setting the scene for what I reallllly wanted to write about. I'm more into character-interaction than plot-development...and its going to be excellent in the next few chapters!

Now, for those who are interested in some Magical homework, in preparation for future chapters, I will give you a clue.

Liquorish.

and its related to our dear sweet Todd. If you can figure it out, well, you won't get anything, but you will have huge satisfaction with your brilliant skills of deduction! 


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